China earthquake: damage to pig production

The earthquake in China which claimed thousands of human lives last
week has also caused enormous damage to the agricultural sector - mainly
related to poultry and pig production.

The great fear now is the spread of disease, the Dutch
agricultural newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad reports.

According to the Chinese authorities 12,5 million pieces of livestock have
died as a result of the earthquake, mainly poultry. Also approximately 792,000
pigs in the province Sichuan have been killed by the earthquake. Sichuan's pig
herd totals 60 millions animals.

Warm seasonThe disaster
occurred just before the beginning of the warm season, where diseases such as Classical Swine Fever (CSF) and
blue-ear disease (PRRS) in Sichuan were in
circulation. The structural damage, and bad accessibility caused by the
earthquake along with hygiene standards have increased the chances of diseases
spreading.

"Prevention of contagious diseases is one of our biggest
priorities in the relief efforts," according to the Chinese government
officials.

The horticultural sector has also been hit hard. According to official
figures 15% of production and 50,000 greenhouses in the region are also
damaged. The damage on irrigation systems will over time have huge effect. The
fear is that large areas of rice production will dry up.